The present invention relates to a coil of stamps, and more particularly to a system for producing a coil of stamps which incorporates security features which inhibit the unnoticed and unauthorized removal of one or more stamps from the coil.
It has long been known to roll a strip of stamps into a coil to save space and to provide a convenient mechanism for detaching one or more stamps from a plurality of others. Such a coil configuration has been used with traditionally known stamps which required moistening on the glue side before being adhered to an envelope, and more recently, with so-called xe2x80x9cself adhesivexe2x80x9d stamps which do not have to be moistened, but rather are provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive layer which is adhered to the envelope. In the latter case, the pressure sensitive adhesive layer is typically covered with a protective backing, or liner, consisting of a strip of non-adhesive material, generally of the same width as or wider than the strip of stamps, which is peeled away before the stamp is adhered to the envelope in order to expose the adhesive layer on the back of the stamp.
Traditionally, coils of stamps had been individually sealed on the outside (outer side) typically with a band or strip of appropriate length applied at the moment of rolling the strips of stamps into a coil.
Such a band is typically applied in a manner to interleave it with the last few spires (outer spires) of the coil, the band being long enough to extend past the last stamp of the coil; the outer stamp of the coil and the first one to be unrolled from the coil; and long enough to overlap on itself around the coil of stamps. Being such a band covered (coated) at least on one side with either a heat activated adhesive or a moisture activated adhesive, such adhesive was then properly activated in a defined spot (position) such as to allow the band to seal to itself in a portion of the overlapping area. A band or strip so applied and sealed prevents the unrolling of the coil of stamps and therefore it prevents, unless broken, the removal of one or more stamps from the outside of the coil of stamps. A coil of stamps with such outside band applied and sealed guarantees that the coil had not been unrolled and guarantees that no stamps have been removed from the outside of the coil. It is worth noting, however, that the same is not true for the inside (inner end) of the same coil of stamps.
Moreover, traditionally, coils of stamps had been packaged in trays. Each tray consisting of a multitude of individual cells each individually complete on the sides and bottom but not on the top, and each separable from the others but connected with the others to form the tray. Each coil was deposited in a separate cell of the tray and a layer of material, generally film, transparent or not transparent, printed or unprinted, was then deposited on top of the tray, thus providing the top of each of the cells, and sealed to the tray cells thus defining a multitude of separate cells, each cell containing one, and one only, coil and each cell individually and completely enclosed and sealed all around, at the moment of the original packaging. In order to facilitate the separation of the individual cells a convenient grid of perforations was then typically applied to the tray allowing the separation of any individual cell still maintaining the cell individually complete and sealed. Access to the coil of stamps inside the cell was only possible by breaking the seal. Therefore an unbroken sealed cell guarantees to contain a complete original untampered coil of stamps. The trays typically would be distributed to U.S. Post Office branch locations, where they would be stored in drawers. When a customer purchased a coil, the cell could be separated from the tray, and given to the customer. Before use, the cell would be opened by the customer, thereby ensuring that no stamps were removed from the coil before being sold to the customer.
While the above-described packaging system offers excellent security, it suffers from a number of disadvantages. One of these disadvantages relates to the space required for storage. Typically, because of the size of the trays, very few of them could be fit into the drawers, and in some cases, it may be difficult to even fit a single tray into a drawer. This would require postal employees to frequently be required to restock the drawers, a time-wasting process. Moreover, the large size of the trays increases the warehousing cost of bulk skids and shipping charges from manufacturing facilities to Post Office branch offices. Another disadvantage relates to the amount of material required to form the trays. The large amount of material makes the trays relatively costly to produce, and creates environmental concerns.
A novel packing system to remedy these disadvantages has been developed by George Schmitt and Company, Inc., assignee of the present application, and is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/032,961, filed Oct. 24, 2001, and incorporated herein by reference. Referring first to FIG. 1, a cylinder or stick of coils 10 of stamps is shown, the coils of stamps being in alignment along a common axis 12. The cylinder is wrapped with a shrink wrap tubing 14 (better seen in FIG. 2), and then heat is applied to shrink the tubing to mold to stamp coils 10 on the outside, thereby holding the coils together in a cylinder or stick.
Shrink wrap tubing 14 comprises a single piece of shrink wrap material having a plurality of cross perforation lines 16 therein, and at least one longitudinal perforation line 18 therein. Cross perforation lines 16 are placed so as to be adjacent to the mating surfaces of adjacent coils 10 once tubing is shrunk therearound. This allows one or more stamp coils 10 to be separated from the stick, while the portion of shrink wrap tubing 14 around the respective coils remains intact. The number of cross perforation lines 16 provided is dependent upon the number of stamp coils 10 to be packaged together. Although five coils are shown in the figures, it should be understood that a greater or fewer number of coils may be provided. Longitudinal perforation lines 18 are provided so that shrink wrap tubing may be easily removed from stamp coils 10 when such is desired. Although one longitudinal perforation line 18 is sufficient for such, it has been found that providing two longitudinal perforation lines 18 provides improved results.
Using the above-described packaging system, it has been found that twice as many coils of stamps can be stored in the space utilized by known tray designs. However, when the above described packaging system is used with traditionally known coils of stamps which require moistening or with self adhesive stamps having a protective backing, or liner, a security issue may arise. More specifically, the coils of stamps are individually sealed on the outside both by the sealed band applied at the moment of the rolling of the coil and by the outside shrink wrap material. However, they are not individually sealed on the inside, inner side of the coil, and the integrity of the coil of stamps may be compromised. It is indeed possible to remove one or more stamps from the inner end of a coil of stamps 10, either separated from the stick while the portion of shrink wrap tubing 14 around the coil remains intact, or still connected with other coils of the stick while the shrink wrap tubing 14 around the stick remains intact, without affecting the appearance of the coil or breaking the sealed band or the shrink wrap tubing around the coil. The consumer or any other person would not be able to easily tell if such tampering has occurred unless the number of stamps on the coil were counted.
What is desired, therefore, is a system for creating a coil of stamps which inhibits the unnoticed and unauthorized removal of one or more stamps from the coil itself, either from the outer spires or from the inner spires, thus allowing, among other advantages, a plurality of coils to be packaged as a stick and wrapped on the outside with a shrink wrap tubing, while still ensuring the customer that no stamps were removed from any of the coil before being sold to the customer. A method of making such a coil of stamps is also desired.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for creating a coil of stamps which inhibits the unnoticed and unauthorized removal of one or more stamps from the coil itself.
Another object of the present invention is to provide system for creating a coil of stamps having the above characteristics and which inhibits the unnoticed and unauthorized removal of stamps both from the outer spires and from the inner spires.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system for creating a coil of stamps having the above characteristics and which allows a plurality of coils to be packaged as a stick and wrapped on the outside with a shrink wrap tubing, while still ensuring the customer that no stamps were removed from any of the coil before being sold to the customer.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for making a coil of stamps having the above characteristics.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by provision of a system for creating a coil of stamps from a web of stamps, which coil inhibits the unnoticed and unauthorized removal of one or more stamps from the coil. The system includes a security strip feeder which feeds a security strip having a first section and a second section. A first activator activates only the first section of the security strip, and an applicator applies the security strip to contact the web of stamps. Thus, the activated first section of the security strip adheres to the web of stamps, while the second section of the security strip does not adhere to the web of stamps. A cutter cuts the web of stamps into a strip of stamps in a position such that at least a portion of the second section extends beyond the strip of stamps, and a second activator activates the portion of the second section of the security strip extending beyond the strip of stamps. A coiler coils the strip of stamps into a coil of stamps such that the activated portion of the second section of the security strip contacts and adheres onto an inner spire of the coil of stamps or back onto itself.
In one embodiment, the web of stamps may comprise a web of stamps having a pressure sensitive adhesive applied thereto which is covered by a backing layer, or a web of stamps having a moisture activated adhesive applied thereto. In these cases case, the security strip may have a delayed reaction heat activated adhesive applied thereto, and the first activator and said second activator may comprise heat sources, preferably heat lamps, which activate the delayed reaction heat activated adhesive. The security strip may alternatively have a moisture activated adhesive applied thereto, and the first activator and the second activator may comprise moisture sources which activate the moisture activated adhesive.
In another embodiment, applicable to the case where the web of stamps comprises a web of stamps having a moisture activated adhesive applied thereto, the first activator and the second activator may comprise moisture sources which apply moisture to the security strip which moisture activates the moisture activated adhesive when the moistened security strip contacts the moisture activated adhesive.
Preferably, the security strip feeder includes a first cutting mechanism which cuts the security strip from a length of security strip material. It is also preferable that the first activator includes a blocking member which blocks the second portion of the security strip from being activated during activation of the first portion of the security strip.
When coils of stamps are rewound in one or multiple streams, a second cutter cuts the web of stamps into a strip of stamps in a position such that at least a portion of the second section of the security strip extends beyond the strip of stamps. Preferably, such a cutter comprises a bursting blade extending across a width of the web of stamps, the bursting blade having a narrow tip and being movable substantially perpendicular to the web of stamps such that when moved fully toward the web of stamps, the bursting blade breaks a plane formed by the web of stamps. The bursting blade is moved forcefully toward the web of stamps adjacent to a perforation in the web of stamps in order to burst the perforation and separate a strip of stamps from the remainder of the web of stamps.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.